In November, 1953, I wrote an article entitled “Breaking the Communist Spell,” which appeared in _This Week_ magazine. It was an appeal to members disillusioned with communism to step forward and help in the fight against Soviet tyranny. The response was encouraging. In an Eastern city a caller said he had read the article and wanted to give information about Party activities. Another person told our agents, “It’s never easy to tell such a story.... Then I saw an appeal by J. Edgar Hoover in a recent magazine article and after reading it several times felt that I should make a special effort to remember and pull what I could into order.” I want to set forth again the salient portions of this article. It seems to sum up what we have been trying to say on this most important subject: The individual contributions of former members of the Communist Party to the security of our way of life are shining examples of people who have recognized their mistakes and are doing all within their power to rectify them. * * * * * If, having knowledge of persons and activities detrimental to his country, he breaks from the Party, yet maintains silence, he is still aiding the enemy. The moral obligation involved cannot be met by silence. The choice is simple: _help the United States_. The man who does this is preserving freedom under law. He is protecting the American way of life for free men and women—including his family and himself. * * * * * These people deserve the nation’s respect, and their neighbors’ fair-minded forgiveness for their past devotion to Communism. Their means of livelihood must be protected, and loyal Americans must accept their sincere repentance as a return to the full scope of citizenship. All great religions teach that the sinner can always redeem himself. Who, then, shall sit in judgment on the ex-Communist? Who dare deny him the promise held out to those who repent of the evil they have done and who try to make amends? For our part, at the FBI, we have always sought to recognize the very real human and personal problems facing the ex-Communists who have come to our offices to make such amends.... In discussing the ex-Communist, those who piously say that the leopard never changes its spots forget that they are speaking of human beings—mortal creatures with immortal souls. And those who say “Once a Communist, always a Communist” are simply advertising their ignorance. To deny that men can change is to deny the truths which have eternally guided civilized man. _Part IV_ LIFE IN THE PARTY 10. _How the Party Is Organized_ Look in for a minute on a typical secret meeting of a communist “club” or cell “somewhere in the United States.” This particular meeting is selected because it is typical of hundreds of such meetings.